TopProspectAlert.com

By: J.P. Schwartz
@Jaypers413

As we are now halfway into the season and the signing deadline for 2012 draft picks has passed, here is my revised list of top 5 prospects in the Oakland Athletics organization.

Remember, a prospect must have fewer than 130 ABs or 50 IP in the Major Leagues to qualify.
(Stats through 7/30/2012)

1) Dan Straily – P
Highest Level: AAA Sacramento River Cats
2012 Stats:
MILB: 8-6, 2.60ERA, 138.1IP, 37BB, 175K, .197BAA

2) A.J. Griffin – P
Highest Level: MLB Oakland Athletics
2012 Stats:
MLB: 3-0, 2.51ERA, 43IP, 10BB, 35K, .204BAA
MILB: 6-3, 2.66ERA, 94.2IP, 14BB, 84K, .208BAA

3) Brad Peacock – P
Highest Level: AAA Sacramento River Cats
2012 Stats:
MILB: 8-7, 6.17ERA, 108IP, 50BB, 113K, .287BAA

4) Addison Russell – SS
Highest Level: Rookie League AZL Athletics
2012 Stats:
MILB: .416, 4(2B), 4(3B), 6HR, 27RBI, 9SB

5) Michael Choice – OF
Highest Level: AA Midland RockHounds
2012 Stats:
MILB: .287, 15(2B), 2(3B), 10HR, 58RBI

Send your questions or feedback to J.P. on twitter @Jaypers413

By: J.P. Schwartz
@Jaypers413 on Twitter
JP’s FreedomCardboard Blog

2012 Oakland Athletics Top 15 Prospect Rankings

Every year at this time I like to rank each team’s top prospects. My criteria is based upon both past performance and future potential to his parent team. This is my ranking of the 2012 Oakland Athletics Top Prospects. If you have any questions about my rankings, feel free to shoot me a message on twitter @Jaypers413

To qualify, a prospect must have fewer than 130 at-bats or 50 innings in MLB

#1 Yoenis Cespedes OF
Born: 10/10/1985
Highest Level Reached: International Free Agent – Defected From Cuba 2011
2011 Combined Stats: Did Not Play In Affiliated Baseball In 2011

#2 Jarrod Parker RHP
Born: 11/24/1988
Highest Level Reached: MLB Arizona Diamondbacks (Traded To Oakland Dec 2011)
2011 Combined Stats: MINORS: 11-8, 3.79ERA, 130.2IP, 55BB, 112K, .236BAA
MAJORS: 0-0, 0.00ERA, 5.2IP, 1BB, 1K, .211BAA

#3 Sonny Gray RHP
Born: 11/7/1989
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Midland RockHounds
2011 Combined Stats: 1-1, 0.82ERA, 22IP, 6BB, 20K, .241BAA (1st Round Pick 2011 MLB Draft)

#4 Brad Peacock RHP
Born: 2/2/1988
Highest Level Reached: MLB Washington Nationals (Traded to Oakland Dec 2011)
2011 Combined Stats: MINORS: 15-3, 2.39ERA, 146.2IP, 47BB, 177K, .188BAA
MAJORS: 2-0, 0.75ERA, 12IP, 6BB, 4K, .167BAA

#5 Grant Green SS
Born: 9/27/1987
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Midland RockHounds
2011 Combined Stats: .291, 33(2B), 1(3B), 9HR, 62RBI

#6 Michael Choice OF
Born: 11/10/1989
Highest Level Reached: High-A Stockton Ports
2011 Combined Stats: .285, 28(2B), 1(3B), 30HR, 82RBI, 9SB

#7 A.J. Cole RHP
Born: 1/5/1992
Highest Level Reached: Low-A Hagerstown Suns (Traded To Oakland December 2011)
2011 Combined Stats: 4-7, 4.04ERA, 89IP, 24BB, 108K, .251BAA

#8 Derek Norris C
Born: 2/14/1989
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Harrisburg Senators (Traded To Oakland December 2011)
2011 Combined Stats: .210, 17(2B), 1(3B), 20HR, 46RBI, 13SB

#9 Chris Carter 1B
Born: 12/18/1986
Highest Level Reached: MLB Oakland Athletics
2011 Combined Stats: MINORS: .278, 18(2B), 2(3B), 21HR, 79RBI
MAJORS: .136 (6 hits in 44 at-bats)

#10 Tom Milone LHP
Born: 2/16/1987
Highest Level Reached: MLB Washington Nationals (Traded To Oakland December 2011)
2011 Combined Stats: MINORS: 12-6, 3.22ERA, 148.1IP, 16BB, 155K, .241BAA
MAJORS: 1-0. 3.81ERA, 26IP, 4BB, 15K, .283BAA

#11 B.A. Vollmuth 3B
Born: 12/23/1989
Highest Level Reached: Short-A Vermont Lake Monsters
2011 Combined Stats: .268 (11 hits in 41 at-bats), 4(2B), 1(3B), 1HR, 8RBI (3rd Round Pick 2011 MLB Draft)

#12 Vicmal de la Cruz OF
Born: 11/20/1993
Highest Level Reached: Rookie League Dominican Summer League Athletics
2011 Combined Stats: .318, 13(2B), 5(3B), 1HR, 28RBI, 10SB

#13 Dusty Robinson OF
Born: 9/9/1989
Highest Level Reached: Short-A Vermont Lake Monsters
2011 Combined Stats: .224, 7(2B), 2(3B), 8HR, 27RBI, 6SB (10th Round Pick 2011 MLB Draft)

#14 Collin Cowgill OF
Born: 5/22/1986
Highest Level Reached: MLB Arizona Diamondbacks (Traded To Oakland Dec 2011)
2011 Combined Stats: MINORS: .354, 24(2B), 8(3B), 13HR, 70RBI, 30SB
MAJORS: .239, 3(2B), 1HR, 9RBI

#15 Bobby Crocker OF
Born: 5/1/1990
Highest Level Reached: Short-A Vermont Lake Monsters
2011 Combined Stats: .296, 9(2B), 3(3B), 3HR, 19RBI, 8SB (4th Round Pick 2011 MLB Draft)

Disclaimer – I did not attend any minor league games this year, nor do I claim to have any scouting experience. These lists are the product of my own research of statistics and online scouting reports.

With the 2011 minor league season complete we check in on the progress of each of the Oakland Athletics preseason Top 15 prospects as ranked by our prospect ranker J.P. Schwartz. The post season grading report was done by the publisher of Top Prospect Alert, not Mr. Schwartz, and reflects only the 2011 season and not future upside or downside of the individual prospect. Our 2012 preseason rankings will be published in the coming months.

#1 Chris Carter GRADE: B-
Carter batted a combined .278 with 18 Doubles, 2 Triples, 21 Home Runs and 79 RBI’s in six games with the High-A Stockton Ports and the majority of the season with the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. He walked 46 times and struck out 93 times in 81 games. In 44 big league at-bats with the A’s, Choice hit .136 with no extra base hits and no RBI’s.

#2 Grant Green GRADE: B+
Green batted .291 with 33 Doubles, 1 Triple, 9 Home Runs and 62 RBI’s for the Double-A Midland Rockhounds. He walked 39 times and struck out 119 times in 127 games.

#3 Michael Choice GRADE: A
Choice batted .285 with 28 Home Runs, 1 Triple, 30 Home Runs and 82 RBI’s for High-A Stockton. He walked 61 times and struck out 134 times in 118 games.

#4 Renato Nunez GRADE: B
Nunez, who is just 17, batted .268 with 12 Doubles, 5 Home Runs and 28 RBI’s for the Dominican Summer League Athletics. He walked 6 times and struck out 42 times in 53 games.

#5 Michael Taylor GRADE: B-
Taylor batted .272 with 16 Doubles, 16 Home Runs, and 64 RBI’s for Triple-A Sacramento. He also stole 14 bases. He walked 46 times and struck out 80 times in 93 games. In 30 big league at-bats for the A’s, Taylor batted .200 with one Home Run and one RBI.

#6 Yordy Cabrera GRADE: C
Cabrera batted .231 with 21 Doubles, 5 Triples, 6 Home Runs and 47 RBI’s for the Low-A Burlington Bees. He walked 31 times and struck out 110 times in 101 games.

#7 Aaron Shipman GRADE: B-
Shipman batted .231 with 8 Doubles, 1 Triple, and 19 RBI’s for the Short-A Vermont Lake Monsters. He walked 42 times and struck out 39 times in 63 games. Shipman also stole 17 bases on the season.

#8 Matt Thomson GRADE: NO GRADE
Thomson threw just four innings on the season for Low-A Burlington and was out the majority of the year with arm issues.

#9 A.J. Griffin GRADE: B+
Griffin went a combined 11-7 with a 3.47ERA between Low-A Burlington, High-A Stockton, Double-A Midland, and Triple-A Sacramento. He walked 32 and struck out 156 in 160 innings. Opposing batters hit .238 off Griffin on the season.

#10 Michael Ynoa DID NOT PLAY
Ynoa missed all of 2011 following Tommy John Surgery.

#11 Ian Krol NO GRADE
Krol pitched just five innings this season between injury and suspension. He had five hitless innings in three appearances for the Rookie AZL Athletics.

#12 Jemile Weeks GRADE: A
Weeks batted .303 with 26 Doubles, 8 Triples, 2 Home Runs and 36 RBI’s for the Athletics. He also stole 22 bases. He walked 21 times and struck out 62 times in 97 big league games. At Triple-A Sacramento, Weeks batted .321 with 6 Doubles, 4 Triples, 3 Home Runs and 22 RBI’s and 10 stolen bases in 45 games.

#13 Stephen Parker GRADE: A-
Parker batted a combined .287 with 30 Dobules, 2 Triples, 10 Home Runs and 74 RBI’s between Double-A Midland and five games at Triple-A Sacramento. He walked 69 times and struck out 107 times in 132 games.

#14 Tony Thompson GRADE: B
Thompson hit .259 with 15 Doubles, 1 Triple, 14 Home Runs and 59 RBI’s for Low-A Burlington. He walked 37 times and struck out 57 times.

#15 Blake Hassebrock GRADE: B
Hassebrock went 7-8 with a 2.64ERA for Low-A Burlington. He walked 46 and struck out 110 in 139.2 innings. Opposing batters hit .249 off Hassebrock on the season.

Oakland Athletics catching prospect Josh Donaldson had an interesting choice of music for his walk up song going with the Justin Bieber song Baby when he strolls to the plate in a recent Sacramento River Cats game.

Apparently Art Howe is not a fan of the way he was portrayed in the Moneyball movie. Howe was the manager of the Athletics during the moneyball era and worked under GM Billy Beane. In the story link below check out the pointed comments that Howe had to say about how he was portrayed in the movie.

Howe upset with ‘Moneyball’ portrayal

The Stockton Ports, the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics took home the 2011 California League North Division championship with a series win over the Modesto Nuts. Check out this video of the post game celebration. 46 year old manager Webster Garrison, who was a career 0-9 with a walk in his five game major league career with the A’s back in 1996, shows his young ball club that he still has some dance moves left over from his playing days. Following the show by Garrison, the team continues the party pounding out a rhythm beat on stools, buckets, laundry baskets, and anything else they can find. It’s pretty cool. The Ports went on to lose to the Lake Elsinore Storm in California League finals.

The Vermont Lake Monsters, Short-A New York-Penn League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics have an extra man in the dugout. That man would be the interpreter for Taiwanese prospect Chih Fang Pan. The outfielder had a solid season for the Lake Monsters batting .336 with 4 Doubles, 1 Home Run, and 22 RBI’s in 37 games. The video below gives a look at the important role Pan’s interpreter plays for both Pan and his Lake Monster teammates.

The movie adaptation of Michael Lewis’ acclaimed baseball front office book Moneyball hits the big screen on September 23rd. Ahead of the film, the movie’s star Brad Pitt, who plays Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, visited the Toronto International Film Fest and spoke about the saga involved in taking the film from the a book to the screen. In the story link Beane talks about remaining on the project despite three different directors, growing up a fan of 1970′s sports movies, and his love of the Moneyball film.

Interview: Brad Pitt ‘cared very much’ about Moneyball — Vancouver Sun

For many professional athletes, the mental toll of a season ending injury can be just as difficult as the physical toll. For Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden, the anguish of not being able since undergoing shoulder surgery in May, was so much that Braden could not bring himself to watch an A’s game on TV, let alone in the dugout. Finally after encouragement from general manager Billy Beane, Braden is back in the Oakland clubhouse. In an outstanding article by Susan Slusser, a must follow on twitter @SusanSlusser, Braden talks about the mental anguish he felt following the surgery, finally being able to change his mentality, and updates the status of his physical rehab. Additionally Braden’s teammates share their thought on disabled list etiquette. It’s a very good read.

A’s pitcher Dallas Braden rehabs shoulder, psyche — SFGate.com

This is a nice short film on Oakland Athletics farmhand Eric Sogard. In the documentary Sogard talks about growing up with a love for baseball, the importance of his family. and chasing his big league dream.